


Wake Up? Please?

by casdeanbee



Series: Castiel, Jimmy and Dean [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Broken/bruised ribs, Caring Dean Winchester, Castiel and Dean Winchester are Saps, Castiel and Dean Winchester in Love, Castiel!whump, Complete, Concussions, Crying, Domestic Castiel/Dean Winchester, Domestic Fluff, Dorks in Love, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hurt Castiel (Supernatural), Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Original Character(s), Slight post-concussion syndrome, Spooning, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-05-19 11:38:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19356289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/casdeanbee/pseuds/casdeanbee
Summary: Castiel takes a fall at home and ends up knocked out at the bottom of the stairs. It takes his son, Jimmy, to figure out how to get help. And of course, how to get Dean.





	Wake Up? Please?

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is part of a series and there will be more context if you've read the OG fic (obviously, heh), but it can be read independently all the same. 
> 
> So, if you're reading this as an individual fic, all you need to know: Cas has a son called Jimmy (3y/o) and they live in Scranton (Penn). Cas (25y/o) and Dean (28y/o) have been dating for around 4 months and Dean has just moved in with Cas and Jimmy.

**2:00pm**

Cas carries Jimmy out of the living room. They’re just getting ready to meet Dean at Dean’s mom’s house. They are celebrating him moving in officially as his rent on his apartment has finally come to an end so he can move in with Cas and Jimmy completely. Obviously, he’s already been living with them on-and-off for a few weeks now, but he’s been going back and forth regularly from the apartment to move his stuff to their home. Jimmy was so excited when they told him Dean is moving in. His little face was a picture.

“Where’s Dean?” Jimmy questions, looking up at Cas when he sets him down on the floor next to the stairs.

“He’s at his apartment packing remember?” He ruffles Jimmy’s hair. “Then we’re meeting him at his mom’s house so we can celebrate him coming to live with us.”

“What does that mean?”

“Celebrate?”

Jimmy nods.

“It means that we’re having a sort of party. We’re getting together with Dean’s family to be happy with them about him moving house.”

“Oh. Okay.” Jimmy smiles.

The boy suddenly frowns and looks around for something.

“Everything okay?” He asks, frowning too.

Jimmy looks up at him with those big eyes. “Blanket?”

Cas does the same as his son and looks around. Jimmy has a point, where is his blanket? Cas tries to think of where it’s been left and realizes soon enough. “Oh, it’s upstairs on your bed. Wait here, I’ll go get it, yeah?”

Jimmy nods as Cas turns around and climbs up the stairs. He knows Jimmy won’t stay put – he’ll wander off into the kitchen or something but as long as he’s careful Cas is fine with it.

He enters Jimmy’s room and sees the blanket crumpled on the bed. When he reaches to pick it up, his sleeve rides up his arm revealing his watch. The time has gone faster than he’d thought. _Shit_. They are already kinda late.

Cas grabs the blanket and rushes out of the room, the blanket in a firm grip. He makes for the stairs and starts down them, making it down around three steps before an indescribable rush of shock jolts through him when his foot catches on something. He loses his balance and falls forwards, only a squeak of fear leaving his mouth. A rush of thoughts race through his head, but they are all overruled by fear – a bit like that dread that you get when you’re falling and there’s nothing you can do. Well… _exactly_ like that.

His breath is knocked out of him when he hits some of the steps further down, and he doesn’t get time to react as he tumbles further before seeing that he is falling right towards the bannister fixed to the wall. He squeezes his eyes shut on instinct, and within seconds his head is colliding with the wood with a loud thwack. After that he can’t think anymore. He just falls the rest of the way until he lands at the bottom of the stairs.

Cas feels the sensation of…sort of…needles piercing his brain, but he doesn’t understand what’s happened by this point. It’s all gone so fast.

He can feel an indescribable amount of pain in his chest too. It hurts to breathe. All he can see is a blur of his hand, resting next to his head. He tries to say ‘Jimmy’ but the words get lost on his tongue. Things don’t fade to black like he thought they would.

It all just goes black.

 

* * *

 

Jimmy looks up from playing with Husky in the kitchen when he hears bangs coming from the stairs. He flinches at every bang until they just stop. Was it daddy?

He’s scared, but he wants daddy, so he stands up from kneeling and slowly walks through the door to where they were before.

When he rounds the corner, he sees daddy on the floor. Is he asleep?

Jimmy walks forwards cautiously towards him, seeing that his eyes are closed. “Daddy?” He asks, searching his face to see if he’s awake “…daddy?”

He reaches and shakes him. “Daddy wake up.” Daddy doesn’t move.

“Daddy!” He shouts. Why isn’t he waking up?! “Daddy? Daddy!”

He feels more scared now. He’s going to cry. “Daddy!” He starts crying, shaking daddy but it doesn’t do anything.

Jimmy doesn’t understand. He doesn’t get why he isn’t waking up. Why isn’t he?

“DADDY!” He shouts, knowing now that he isn’t going to wake up. Jimmy is alone. He’s _alone!_

Gasping, he stumbles away, crying and trying not to look at daddy until he reaches the kitchen.

He goes into the corner next to the dishwasher, pushing himself as far back as possible and huddling against the wood. He sits there and tries not to think about what happened, but he remembers what daddy tells him all the time.

_“Remember, Jimmy. If anything happens to me and you’re on your own, you get the phone. You get the phone and you press nine, one and another one. Then you press the green button and when someone answers you tell them something’s happened, alright? I know you can be brave. You can do that, yeah?”_

He always told daddy he could do it.

He swallows and looks up to where he knows the phone is on the counter. It’s right there. Daddy wants him to call that number? He wants to be brave and make him proud.

He’s still crying, but he stands up and reaches on tip toes up to the counter where the phone is. His fingers nearly reach it – just enough to nudge it off balance and knock it off its stand. It falls to the floor and he picks it up, trying to think hard about the numbers he has learned.

Nine. One. One.

With some thought, he manages to press the numbers in and then press the green button.

He holds it in his hand and stares down at it, hearing it ring until there is a voice. A voice?

_“911, what’s the emergency?”_

Scared, he carries on staring at the phone.

_“Hello? Is anyone there?”_

Jimmy slowly lifts the phone to his ear. He doesn’t like strangers! He tries to stop crying, trying to be brave for daddy.

“…he- hello?” Tears are running down his face. What’s going on? He just wants daddy.

_“Hello…is everything alright?”_

The voice is a lady. She sounds kind. She seemed to change her voice after he spoke to her. Now, she sounds nicer than before. Her voice is more gentle.

“M-my daddy won’t wake up…he-he won’t wake up!” He can’t help that he’s crying. He is so scared. “Why won’t he wake up?”

_“It’s alright darling, can you tell me what happened?”_

“Don’ know, I- he- he went upstairs and there were bangs and now he’s at the bottom of the stairs.”

_“Okay. Is there anyone else there with you?”_

“N-no. I’m alone. I’m a-alone.” He sniffles and tries to wipe his tears away with his sleeve.

_“Okay. We’ve found your address from your phone number, alright? Some nice people are going to be with you really soon. Everything’s going to be okay.”_

“But…why…why won’t he wake up?” He cries out, taking the phone with him into the corner.

_“What’s your name, sweetheart?”_

“J-Jimmy.”

_“That’s a lovely name. How old are you?”_

“Three.”

_“Well you’re being really brave, Jimmy. Really brave.”_

“I am?”

_“Yes. And listen, is there anyone we can call. Do you have a mommy we can call?”_

“Dean!” He starts crying harder again.

_“Who’s Dean, sweetie?”_

“Daddy’s friend. He’s move- moving in soon and- and I want Dean. Can you get Dean.” He finds it hard to speak through crying.

 _“Alright. Alright.”_ The lady is calm. It makes him feel a little better. _“Do you know his second name?”_

Jimmy scrunches his eyes in thought “um…‘ches…‘chester?”

There is some tapping before the lady speaks again _“is it Dean Winchester, Jimmy?”_

“Yes!”

_“You want us to call him? Shall we tell him to go to your house?”_

“Please! Please…” He shrinks into the corner. He doesn’t think he’s ever been so scared. “ _Please_ get Dean.”

_“Alright sweetheart. You stay and talk to me okay?”_

“Okay.”

 

* * *

 

Dean stops chatting to mom and Sam, frowning when he sees that his phone starts buzzing with an unknown number. He nearly doesn’t answer it because of stupid ass cold callers, but Cas is twenty minutes late already and hasn’t answered any of his texts for a while.

Cas is _never_ this late. Cas is more organized than that, even when he has Jimmy. Naturally, Dean is a little worried, so he takes the call just in case.

He answers. “Uh, hello?”

_“Hi, are you Dean Winchester?”_

“Yeah speaking.”

_“This is the emergency services. Do you know a boy named Jimmy?”_

“Yeah. Wait, is everything okay?” He stands up in alarm.

_“Can you confirm the home address and your relationship to Jimmy please, just for security reasons.”_

He runs a hand through his hair, heart beating a little faster. He tells them Cas’ address before explaining further. “I’ve moved in with Jimmy and Castiel recently. Cas is Jimmy’s dad and my boyfriend. Please, what’s going on?”

He paces around, knowing Sam and his mom are watching him, wondering what on earth is happening just like him.

_“My colleague is on the phone to Jimmy. He called us saying his dad won’t wake up. From what we can gather, Cas – did you say his name was Cas?”_

“Yeah.”

_“Alright, from what he can gather, Cas has fallen down the stairs and may have a concussion. We’ve sent a team on their way now, and Jimmy told us to call you. We managed to find your number on the database.”_

“Oh my _god_. Shit. _Shit_.” Dean gasps, running into the kitchen to get his car keys. “I’m going to drive there now. Is Jimmy…is he okay?”

_“He’s very upset, but my colleague Maria is talking to him now to keep him distracted.”_

“Okay I’m on my way.”

_“Drive safely, Mr. Winchester.”_

“I will. Thank you.”

He hangs up and dashes into the living room where everyone is waiting to see what the hell is happening. “Cas has fallen down the stairs and Jimmy’s on his own. That was the emergency services, they think Cas has a concussion and they’ve sent an ambulance. I need to go. I’ll call you later.” He rushes through his sentence before nodding to his family and rushing out of the door.

He jumps in his car and speeds off home. Yes, _home_.

“I’m coming babe. I’m coming.” He says to himself, thinking of Cas. He just makes it through the traffic light before it turns red. He’s so worried about Cas and he has no idea what Jimmy must be feeling. Terrified probably. _Poor Jimmy, oh god._ He just wants to get there to be with them. Make sure Cas is going to be okay and comfort Jimmy.

After driving quite over the speed limit (but _safely)_ for the whole way, he reaches their house quicker than usual, pulling up in the drive with a screech of wheels. Looks like he’s got here before the ambulance. It probably won’t be long now.

Dean pushes himself out of his car quickly and runs up the steps to the house, opening the door and immediately seeing Jimmy curled in the corner of the kitchen.

“DEAN!” He drops the phone on the floor and runs over, tears streaming down his little face.

Dean crouches down and Jimmy crashes into him, crying.

“Alright. Alright. It’s okay, I’m here now. I’m here.” He hugged the boy to his chest, stroking his hair. “Alright.”

Jimmy cries and cries against his chest and it breaks Dean’s heart.

He stays still with Jimmy for a minute or two before lifting him up and heading for the stairs. Cas is on the floor, his shirt half ridden up his stomach and bruises starting to form.

“Oh Cas.” He gasps, kneeling beside his boyfriend. Jimmy is clinging to him still, but he manages to run a hand through Cas’ dark hair. “It’s okay babe.” He rakes his fingers through his boyfriend’s hair slower, rubbing Jimmy’s back at the same time.

He can’t see any blood from Cas luckily, but he could still be seriously injured. Dean just has no idea, so he’s relieved when he hears three knocks on the front door. It opens a crack and someone calls out “emergency services.”

“Th-” his voice breaks slightly. “Through here.” Dean calls back, and soon a man and a woman appear through the doorway.

“Hi, I’m Paula and this is Steve. What’s happened? We were told about it briefly but if you could fill us in a little further, that would be a big help.” Paula says gently, kneeling down next to Cas.

“Um, we think he might have fallen down the stairs and hit his head and I saw bruises there.” He gestures to Cas’ chest, seeing that his own hand is shaking.

“Okay. And is he responsive at all?” Paula questions, taking Cas’ hand gently to find his pulse.

“Um” he clears his throat “not that I’m aware of.”

“What’s his name?”

“Castiel. Cas.”

“Alright. Cas, can you hear me?” Paula asks, placing a hand on Cas’ shoulder.

Cas actually moves a little, opening his eyes just a bit but he’s seriously out of it. He looks so pale and…in pain. Steve moves an oxygen mask over his mouth.

“His breathing’s a little off. It does seem like he has a concussion.” He clarifies, looking at Dean then back down at Cas again. “Possibly some bruised or broken ribs too.”

There are a few long moments of excruciating silence as they check Castiel’s vitals, and Dean can only hear the slight rustle of the paramedics’ coats, Cas’ broken breathing and Jimmy’s muffled crying against his chest. He strokes Jimmy’s hair again, just staring at Cas before closing his eyes.

He rubs Jimmy’s back wide and slow. “Sshh, sshh, it’s okay bud. It’s okay.” Jimmy’s grip tightens.

Dean reopens his eyes after a few seconds of trying to calm himself down, and is shocked to see Cas’ eyes are open a little wider than before. The hope of him being not too injured is lost however when Cas jerks a little, taking in a shuddering breath. He scrambles with, what appears to be, all his strength to get the oxygen mask off. He jerks again and his hands drag the mask off shakily.

With being so focused on Cas, he doesn’t notice Steve retrieving a yellow bag thing from the medical kit they brought in. Only when Cas makes a small choking sound does Dean realise what’s going on.

Paula slots a hand under Cas’ head while Steve helps hoist his middle up without jarring his ribs too much. Dean’s aware Cas is going to find this painful. If he does have broken or even bruised ribs, vomiting is going to hurt like a bitch.

When he’s lifted up into more-or-less a sitting position, Cas is sick into the bag as soon as it is positioned over his mouth and it even _sounds_ painful. He struggles to breathe between rounds of his stomach contents coming up, all of it surging into the bag.

As a result of what’s going on, Dean feels Jimmy’s grip tighten even more, and the little boy pushes his head into Dean’s neck harder. Dean knows his eyes are scrunched tight.

“It’s alright, it’s alright. It’s gonna be over soon. It’s okay.” He whispers to Jimmy, holding him tighter to help him feel more secure. “It’s okay.”

Dean watches Cas struggle through getting so ill until he brings up nothing. He dry heaves a couple times before Cas finally gets a break. His skin looks paler than before, and there are tear streaks down his face from the sheer force of vomiting. And it probably _did_ hurt a hell of a lot.

All Dean wants to do is hug Cas and make him okay again, but it’s not possible. Cas is looking terrible now, and the tears continue making their way down his cheeks. A whimper leaves his mouth when they lower him back down. Paula keeps a hand under his head.

“Cas, do you know where you are?” She asks but he’s barely registering what’s going on. He closes his eyes the rest of the way again. “Okay, he’s having difficulty staying awake, we really need to get him to hospital.”

“Is he gonna be okay?” Dean questions, watching Steve leave the house to get a stretcher to put Cas on or something.

“I can’t see any large lumps forming on his head at the minute which is a good sign, but we need to get him to hospital as quick as possible to do some scans. Just to see if he’s suffered any serious brain damage. If not, they’ll still probably keep him in until they’re satisfied with his recovery. He seems to have had quite a nasty hit.”

“Will he be alright? Think he’ll recover fully…?”

“I’m sorry but we can’t guarantee anything. However, we’re going to do _everything_ we can for him. You can call the hospital to see if he’s been assigned to a ward and you’ll be able to visit him.”

“When do you think that’ll be…do you think?”

“A few hours. If all goes well he could be on a ward tonight. But again, I can’t guarantee anything.”

“It’s okay. I understand.” Dean nods, watching Steve open out the stretcher.

“Might need another pair of hands with this. Just so we can support him better. Would you mind helping us Mr. Winchester?”

“Sure.” He tries to pull away from Jimmy but the little boy doesn’t budge. “Kiddo, I need to help these nice people move daddy onto the stretcher. Can you let go for just a little bit? One minute, that’s all. I promise.”

Jimmy is extremely reluctant but does loosen his grip on Dean, allowing him to help the paramedics maneuver Cas onto the stretcher. He takes Cas’ hand and squeezes it, looking down at his boyfriend who looks so sickly. He can’t believe this is happening. He really can’t.

He goes back to Jimmy and takes the boy into his arms again before walking outside alongside the paramedics with the stretcher.

They lift Cas into the ambulance and Paula turns to him by the double doors of the vehicle.

“Are you coming Mr. Winchester?”

He does really want to stay with Cas and just be there for him, but Jimmy’s in no state to be waiting around in hospitals. Dean needs to find a way to help calm him down because he’s still crying.

“I need to stay with him.” He gestures to Jimmy who is buried against his chest. “I don’t think it’d be a good idea to make him ride in an ambulance then sit in the hospital.”

“Okay. Cas is in good hands, Mr. Winchester. We’re going to do everything we can.”

He glances inside the ambulance, getting one last look of Cas before Paula smiles reassuringly and closes the doors and the ambulance takes off down the street, sirens blaring.

Dean watches it disappear around the corner, standing in a slight daze until the sirens fade away. He snaps out of his worried thoughts about Cas when Jimmy moves against him, Dean’s shirt still held tight in his little fists.

“Alright buddy, let’s go inside.” He strokes the back of Jimmy’s head as he walks up the steps to the house. He closes the door behind them then heads for the living room, sitting down on the couch slowly when he gets there.

Dean needs a change of clothes because Jimmy has had an accident at some point, but he doesn’t mind. The kid was terrified and so goddamn upset he feels sorry for him to no end. He’ll calm him down first, then get them both changed.

Taking a breath in, he attempts to move Jimmy away just a little so he can see his face, but the little boy stays buried in his collar.

“It’s over. You’re with me now, alright?” He puts softly and is thankful to get some form of reaction back.

“…why wouldn’t daddy wake up?” He mumbles, all sniffly from crying so much.

“He hit his head by accident and it made him fall asleep. Those nice people are taking him to the hospital so special people can help him. They’ll take good care of him, yeah?”

“Is he going to c-come home?”

“Yeah. Maybe not for a day or two but he will at some point and everything will be okay again.” He manages to finally make eye contact, seeing Jimmy’s reddened face. “It’s all going to be okay.” He rubs the boy’s back slowly, the comfort quietening the sniffling. Dean wipes the tears from Jimmy’s cheeks away with his thumb, smiling sadly. “You wanna talk about it?” He wonders, referring to Jimmy having to be alone and getting scared.

Jimmy shakes his head, looking tired and still upset “…no.”

“Alright.” Dean accepts Jimmy back into his arms when the boy leans forwards for more cuddles.

They sit there in silence for a few minutes and the only sound in the room is their mixed breathing. It is kinda calming, really. It helps Dean chill out, allowing him to remember that the woman had said Cas had no severe bumps from the hit on his head. That’s a good sign. It should all be okay. Just a bad concussion.

“What do you say to a bath, hmm? Then we can get comfy and watch a movie or something?” He proposes. Maybe taking Jimmy’s mind off of things is a better approach than trying to chill out and talk about it.

Jimmy’s reply is reluctant but he nods.

Dean is glad that him and Cas are as close as they are, and he’s glad he knows Jimmy well now. It makes everything easier to deal with. He knows what makes the boy happy, what makes him upset (separation from Cas being the biggest thing) and how to help him through it. _Distraction_.

Him and Cas have discovered this fact only recently. If he has something else to focus on, he gets distracted from what is upsetting him. It works like magic.

He stands up and carries the boy upstairs, letting him pick his pyjamas – it ends up being fuzzy penguin ones – before taking the boy through to the bathroom.

When Jimmy is sitting in the bath, Dean manages to get him into playing a duck game, bringing the floating yellow plastic ducks they have to life. Dean doesn’t get wet on the other side of the bath this time though. Jimmy usually loves splashing him and Cas and dumping bubbles on them, but he understandably doesn’t find interest in it today. Apart from the duck game Dean invented.

After twenty minutes of playing, Jimmy gets tired of the game and wants out, so Dean grabs a towel and lifts the boy out of the bath, wrapping him in the fluffy material. “There. That feel any better?”

Jimmy nods and goes to rest his head on Dean’s shoulder, sucking on his thumb.

Dean decides he’ll dress Jimmy in him and Cas’ bedroom. Then Dean can change too.

So, decision made, Dean heads for the bedroom. He works on getting Jimmy dressed first, including putting a pull up on him since Jimmy apparently doesn’t want to go without one. Understandably, of course. He clearly doesn’t want to worry about anything too much tonight.

Dean rifles through the dresser and retrieves some sweatpants and one of Castiel’s t-shirts to wear. He removes the damp shirt and jeans he’s wearing and puts the clean clothes on. He’ll shower tomorrow. Dean’s decided he’ll call the hospital tomorrow instead of messing with it tonight. Even if he’s on a ward, Cas will be asleep and probably needs rest.

So, Dean will have a quick shower before going to the hospital where hopefully they’ll be able to visit Cas if he’s on a ward somewhere.

When he’s put both his and Jimmy’s damp clothes into the laundry basket, Dean turns around to face Jimmy, seeing that the boy is sitting on the bed sucking his thumb, simply staring at him. “You okay there, bud?” Dean smiles at him and walks over, lifting him into his arms in a big swing.

Jimmy straightens up to look at Dean and shrugs.

“Still want to watch a movie?”

With a moment of contemplation, Jimmy agrees and soon they are sitting under a blanket on the couch watching animated films. As long as it isn’t Disney princesses, Dean doesn’t really mind which ones they watch.

And with that, they end up watch _Alpha and Omega, Finding Nemo, Finding Dory_ and many more. Despite them being kids films, it helps Dean take his mind off things and the movie-watching ends up lasting pretty much for the rest of the day.

By the time 10pm rolls by, Dean decides to call it a night just as the latest film finishes. Jimmy has been fighting sleep for a while and even though Dean isn’t that tired, he figures it might do him good to try and get a good night’s sleep.

 

* * *

 

With a bottle of milk in hand, Dean climbs the stairs, feeling when Jimmy starts to get worked up again. “Hey, what’s wrong buddy?” He asks softly.

“’m not tired…” He mumbles, holding onto Dean with an iron grip.

“I don’t think that’s true.” Dean reasons. “Hey, if you don’t wanna sleep in your bed you can come sleep in our bed tonight with me. How does that sound?”

Jimmy considers it before nodding.

“Alright.” He smiles, taking Jimmy into the bathroom with him to brush his teeth, change him and make sure he’s comfortable for bed.

Dean gets ready too and soon he’s lowering Jimmy down onto the bed on the side Cas usually sleeps. He hands Jimmy the warm milk to hold on to.

The boy puts the milk down on the nightstand which confuses Dean for a second until he sees Jimmy reach for Cas’ Harvard hoodie which has been left at the foot of the bed.

Jimmy looks up at him as he drags it over and cuddles it to his chest. It must smell like Cas or something.

“You keepin’ that tonight?” He smiles softly at the boy who nods, reaching back over for the milk.

Dean climbs into bed and sits up with Jimmy enveloped in his arms as he drinks the warm milk, the drink soothing him to sleep just as Dean hoped it would.

Once he’s put the empty bottle on the nightstand, he grabs Jimmy’s pacifier and eases it into the boy’s mouth before slowly moving them both down the rest of the way under the covers. Dean reaches over Jimmy to switch the light off.  

Even though he called her a couple of hours ago, he sends a few texts to his mom explaining what the plan for tomorrow is before switching his phone off too, depositing it next to the milk bottle on the nightstand.

He gently pulls Jimmy to his chest and closes his eyes, hoping Cas is okay. _Praying_ that Cas is okay.

He falls asleep half way through his worrying.

 

* * *

 

**6:18am**

Dean doesn’t slowly wake up. It’s as if his eyes just open and suddenly he’s completely awake, staring at the wall with his arm around Jimmy who is still fast asleep.

When he sees the time, he resists a groan, not wanting to wake Jimmy up. The kid usually wakes up at around seven, so hopefully he’ll sleep for another forty minutes or so.

Should he go for a shower now? It would leave a decent amount of time to have breakfast, get Jimmy ready and call the hospital before it gets too late in the morning. He’d have extra time to sort things with mom too, since he’s planning on going to the hospital with her and Sam so there will be someone else around to take care of Jimmy if needs be. Yeah, he’d do that.

The only problem is, what if Jimmy wakes up while he’s in the shower? He doesn’t want to risk making him upset again if he thinks he’s alone. Although hopefully, if Dean takes a _really_ quick shower and maybe leaves the door open a crack, Jimmy would know where he is should he wake up before seven. That’s a better idea.

 _God, how does Cas manage it?_ He thinks as he slowly untangles his arms from around Jimmy. Does Cas take five-minute showers all the time or something? Dean finds himself genuinely curious about that because he’s never actually asked Cas what he does. Huh.

Dean leans down to press a light kiss to Jimmy’s forehead before climbing out of bed completely and making his way to the ensuite.

He leaves the door open an inch after glancing over at Jimmy to check he’s still asleep, then strips down and gets into the shower.

Dean washes his hair and cleans himself up in what feels like record time. _Must have been less than five minutes, right?_ He shrugs and steps back out of the shower to towel himself dry.

He wraps the towel around his waist and brushes his teeth to let himself dry off a little more before leaving the bathroom to find some clothes.

Turns out Jimmy is still thankfully asleep. Dean smiles and walks over to the dresser, rifling through the drawers as quietly as he can in an attempt to find his jeans that he left here a couple days ago. Most of his clothes are here really, but they’re all over the place at the minute; some in boxes, some in these drawers, and possibly some in Cas’ car? Some in the Impala? Who knows.

He finds the jeans a moment later and grabs a black t-shirt, some boxers and a red plaid shirt to put on in the bathroom.

Once fully dressed, he switches the bathroom light off and pulls on some socks, looking at the time. _6:49am._

He took longer getting dressed than expected but oh well, at least he’s ready for the day now.

Dean walks over to Jimmy when the boy makes a small noise. He crouches beside the bed, looking at him. He’s still mostly asleep but seems to be coming to now.

Jimmy squirms a little and goes still, making Dean wonder whether he needs to be changed. He gently pushes two fingers under Jimmy’s waistband to feel the pull up and finds it pretty wet.

 _Must have been the milk_ , he thinks.

He could leave Jimmy to wake on his own, but it doesn’t seem like the pull up was wet recently, so another use of it might make it leak, and Jimmy would get upset over it. Plus, Dean would need to put Jimmy’s pyjamas in the wash with the bedsheets, and that’s just not efficient.

He reaches up and strokes Jimmy’s hair down where it’s been messed up by sleep before reaching all the way around him to lift him out of bed.

Jimmy makes another little noise and Dean feels guilty, but it’s best to be safe than sorry. “I know, bud. I know. I’m sorry.”

Dean secures Jimmy in both arms before leaving the bedroom with him and heading for the bigger family bathroom.

The light coming from the window brightens the room just enough so that he doesn’t need to switch the bright lights on. Maybe Jimmy will even fall back to sleep in his half-asleep daze.

He makes a quick job of cleaning Jimmy and changing his pull up, and before long he’s back in his fuzzy penguin pyjamas, fully asleep with his pacifier back in his mouth.

Dean smiles down at him and shakes his head. “Do you ever stop being cute?” He says quietly before picking the little boy back up and hugging him against his chest.

Maybe he should go downstairs. That way he can definitely be there when Jimmy wakes up completely.

He leaves the bathroom and reaches the top of the stairs before stopping. He looks down at each individual step, eyes drifting over each one before he spots a bottle of shampoo, knocked over in the middle of the step. How he didn’t notice it yesterday, he doesn’t know, but…is this what Cas tripped over? A stupid, misplaced bottle of shampoo? Something so small caused all of this damage?

Sighing, he carefully goes down a couple steps then leans over and grabs the bottle, positioning it upright at the edge of the step. He then starts his way down the rest of the stairs, his fingers sliding down the wooden bannister until, around three quarters of the way down, he feels the tiniest dent in it. It wasn’t there before yesterday because Dean always holds on to the bannister when he goes up or down the stairs. Sure, it’s a _tiny_ difference since wood is harder than a human head, but there is definitely a very small dent that _was not_ there before. Jesus.

If anything, it makes him want to call the hospital straight away and see where Cas is, but no one is ready aside from himself and it wouldn’t be practical to go to the hospital without eating or drinking anything.

Dean decides to go to the living room and sit on the couch for a while, just until Jimmy wakes up and then they can have some breakfast.

 

* * *

 

**9:32**

“Hey mom.” He wraps one arm around her with Jimmy being in his other arm.

“Hi Dean.” She smiles solemnly, turning to Jimmy. “Hey Jimmy.”

“Hi Mary.” He says quietly. He’s been quite quiet all morning really, and he hasn’t really wanted to let go of Dean. Dean can’t decide whether it’s because Jimmy misses Cas or because he’s dreading going to the hospital, maybe in case he’s worried Cas won’t wake up again?

Dean had called this morning at eight, discovering Cas is on a ward and is stable, and they’d be allowed to visit him for a while. Dean felt relieved, happy he gets to see his boyfriend after all of the worrying yesterday.

Sam walks over to them and smiles at Dean first, then down at Jimmy. “Hey little man.”

“Hi Sammy.” The boy replies. He gets on really well with Sam. Dean thinks it’s because Sam’s basically a 6-foot teddy bear, and he can usually make Jimmy really laugh.

“You wanna go to Sam?” Dean asks the boy who thinks about it before giving a small nod. Dean’s just glad he’s been able to get him comfortable. Jimmy’s wearing a loose-fitting blue sweatshirt which turns out to be his favourite, and some comfy pants with an elasticated waistband. Jimmy didn’t want to eat anything either, but Dean managed to coax him into eating a few spoonfuls of oatmeal. That was a win.

Dean carefully passes Jimmy to Sam who secures him under his arms before lifting him into the air then down a few times. The moment it happens, a huge smile breaks across the boy’s face and he giggles more and more each time he’s lifted. “Look, you’re flying!” Sam chuckles and Dean’s thankful for it because that’s more or less the first time Jimmy’s smiled through this whole ordeal.

After Jimmy’s launched into the air a few more times, Sam stops and lifts the boy over his head to sit on his shoulders. “There we go. Have you got a nice view?”

“Yeah.” Jimmy smiles and Dean’s more than happy to let Sam entertain him for a while since he’s doing such a good job.

He walks alongside his mom, making light conversation despite the heavy topic hanging over them. “Did they tell you which ward?”

He nods. “Yeah, and the room. I’m thinking of going there myself first and see what state he’s in before taking Jimmy to him. Do you think that’s the right thing to do?”

Mom nods. “We know Jimmy misses him a _lot_ but I suppose Cas might benefit from a gentle warning that we’re here.”

“I was just thinking that if he has a bad head injury then he’s gotta have some kind of bad headache or something and…I dunno, Jimmy might not understand that he has to be quiet? Oh man, I sound so mean.”

“No, I understand. I have a feeling Jimmy might want you to go see Cas first anyway. If you think he’s still worried about Cas not waking up then it might be best to let you go and see what’s going on.”

“Yeah. And obviously we can take Jimmy in to see him, but I just thought maybe it’s best for me to go and see what the deal is first. And see how Cas is and if he’s okay. Ugh I’m so worried about him.”

“It’ll all be fine, Dean. I promise.”

Dean smiles at his mom just as they enter the main entrance, not needing to go to reception since they already know the area that Castiel is in.

Dean leads the way through the corridors and in various elevators until they reach the right floor. Just need to find the right ward now.

“This way I think.” He says and hears everyone else’s footsteps behind him. He adjusts the diaper bag on his shoulder, wanting to do something with his hands to try and ignore the nervousness that’s making its way through him. He just wants to be with Cas. He wants to be at home with Cas and Jimmy and he wishes none of this happened. _Obviously._

They reach the right ward finally, and Dean wanders over to the nurses’ station to double check what the room is.

“Hi, uh can you tell me which room Castiel Novak is in please?” He asks the nurse sitting behind the desk.

“Yes, no problem, if you could just state your relationship to Castiel that would be great.”

“I’m his boyfriend, and his son Jimmy’s here too with my mom.” He says.

The man nods, tapping the keyboard at his computer for a moment. “That’s great thanks. It says here that he’s in room 42a. He was moved here at around seven this morning.”

“Okay, thanks. And uh, do we need to be quiet with him? Is there anything I should do?”

“Yes, I’d recommend not being too loud because of the head injury. All I’d say otherwise is maybe have no more than two people with him at a time because he was quite ill last night.”

“Ill?” He asks apprehensively, the level of worry inside him rising up a few levels.

“He had a reaction to one of the medications he was given but he’s stable now. The reaction’s been noted down on his paperwork and on the database so he won’t be given the same medication again in the future.”

Dean nods. “Okay. Thanks. So…room 42a?”

“That’s right, yes.”

“Thank you.” He says, nodding to the man before retreating to the waiting area where his mom, Sam and Jimmy are sitting. “I know which room he’s in. Seems like he’s doing okay.”

There is an air of relief in the tense atmosphere between them, but there is still that sense of lingering worry.

Dean lowers the diaper bag down from his shoulder and puts it on the floor next to his mom’s feet. She has Jimmy sitting on her knee so Dean crouches down to be eye level with him.

“Hey buddy.” He says and Jimmy – with mom’s help – slides down to the floor to stand in front of Dean. He wraps his arms loosely around Jimmy. “I’m gonna go see daddy, okay? You can come and see him after, yeah?”

Jimmy is surprisingly calm, and steps forwards to wrap his arms around Dean’s neck. Dean hugs the little boy back, stroking the hair at the back of his head slowly.

“Can you make sure daddy wakes up?”

Dean smiles. “Yeah, I will. I will buddy.”

“Promise?” He whispers.

“I promise.” Dean whispers back, letting Jimmy pull away a few inches. Dean looks over to the corner of the waiting area where there are some children’s books and toys. He points over to the corner, keeping one arm circled around Jimmy’s waist, holding him close. “Why don’t you go play with those over there and then I’ll come get you in a bit. How does that sound?”

Jimmy studies the items in the corner and nods, deciding he wants to play. He looks back at Dean, and he gives the little boy a gentle smile. Jimmy returns it and giggles, squirming away when Dean reaches up and tickles his tummy. Dean only does it for a second, and afterwards, Jimmy gives him a huge smile and flings his arms around him.

Dean secures Jimmy in his arms and lifts him up, all in one go before moving his hands under Jimmy’s arms and swinging him around. Jimmy bursts out in a fit of more excited giggles and Dean lowers him to eye level before kissing his forehead. “See you soon, buddy.” Jimmy returns his smiles and Dean puts him down, stroking his hair a few times before letting Jimmy wander over to the toys.

They all watch the boy pick up a cat plushie. Dean smiles. He hopes Jimmy never has to go through being so upset again. Ever. Dean will always do his best to make sure.

“I’ll be back in a while.” He decides, getting a nod and an “okay” from Sam and mom. Sam goes over to Jimmy and starts playing a game with him, and that’s the last Dean sees of them before he rounds the corner of the room and starts a walk down the corridor to find Cas’ room.

He bites his lip, repeating _42a 42a 42a 42a 42a 42a_ in his head until he finds it. Right here. Cas is right here.

Slowly and gently, he takes hold of the handle of the door and pushes it open cautiously.

The first thing he notices is that the room is very dim, half because of the blinds being closed. Turns out Cas has his own room – a lot of the patients here do – maybe because they _all_ have headaches and they _all_ need peace and they _all_ need it to be dark.

He closes the door just as gently and walks over to the bed where Cas appears to be asleep, all pale and still. The whole room is still, in fact. There’s a certain solemnity about it; one of the main reasons Dean hates hospitals. Simply because they are so _back and forth_. Life and death. Happiness and sadness. Clean and dirty. All at the same time. But god knows he’d spend every day here if it meant he could be here with Cas.

Dean walks across the room to where there is a plastic chair in the corner, lifts it up and carries it over next to the bed, and puts it down so he can sit on it. Him and Cas are on the same level, so he can comfortably sit beside Cas without looking up or down at him.

He takes Cas’ hand gently from where it is resting on the bed, locking their fingers together lightly.

Dean watches his face. His breathing’s better than yesterday – _much better_. But his face is so pale and he looks so _ill_. Is this because of that thing that happened with the medication? Maybe Cas was allergic to it or something. Yeah, probably that…but still, who knows.

Cas has an IV line attached to his arm, and his fingers twitch every so often. He’s actually sleeping with his bed tilting him up into nearly a sitting position, but he’s still propped up comfortably by pillows. Dean can’t help but see pain in his facial expression even though he’s asleep. Whatever he’s going through, it must be beyond awful.

He focuses on Cas’ hand for a while, watching his thumb run back and forth over the back, wondering if Cas is dreaming anything nice or horrible. He runs his thumb over each knuckle, feeling how cold Cas’ hand actually is. He guesses it’s better than being too warm.

Dean feels Cas’ fingers close around his hand, and he looks up to find Cas staring at him, blue eyes dull and his head rolled ever so slightly to the side.

“Hey.” Dean whispers, and they stare at each other for a while. All Dean can think to say after a few moments have passed is “…rough night, huh?”

Cas’ lips pull into a small smile and he closes his eyes, slowly rolling his head back from the side so he’s looking forwards. “I’ve had better nights, that’s for sure.” He replies quietly, his voice really quite raw.

“How are you feeling?”

Cas swallows, opening his eyes again “like shit.”

Dean can’t help but laugh, trying to do it as quietly as possible. “I love you.”

“Love you too.” Cas sighs, if a little shakily. “But yeah…on a serious note-” he swallows again before continuing “I had some kind of reaction to the pain medication they gave me so I’ve been throwing up all night. The nausea from the concussion doesn’t exactly help. Thankfully I was drugged up through it so the sickness didn’t freak me out too much.”

“I’m sorry. I’m just glad it wasn’t anything worse. There’s a dent on the bannister where you hit your head, y’know.”

“Really? Wow.” Cas’ words and sentences are slow and he really does sound exhausted. His grip tightens on Dean’s hand, regaining his attention.

“Jimmy- is…is he okay?” There is a mixture of emotions in his eyes when he asks this. Pain, guilt, fear, worry, everything. Understandably, of course.

“He’s fine, Cas. It’s okay, he’s fine.” He squeezes Cas’ hand back, sensing the panic that must have been bubbling under the surface, possibly even when he was asleep. Of course, Cas wouldn’t know what happened to Jimmy after he was knocked cold. For all he knew or could remember, Jimmy was on his own and could have run away or something. “It’s okay. I’ve been with him all night.” He adds, feeling Cas’ fingers relax around his own.

The alarm in his boyfriend recedes and he relaxes against the pillows once again. “I’m sorry.”

Dean frowns. “What could you possibly be sorry for?”

Cas looks down at the end of the bed, eyes half-lidded. “For putting everyone through this.”

Dean shakes his head as he says “Cas, we’re just glad you’re okay. None of this was your fault. I’m just so happy that you’re alright.”

“…all I can remember is looking at my watch-” he takes a moment to inhale slowly and back out again “and seeing we were late and then tripping over something on the stairs.” He swallows thickly. “And all I can think is…is what if I had been carrying Jimmy- what if I fell and I dropped him-”

“No, no babe, don’t.” Dean says softly, scooting closer on the chair so he can place his other hand on Castiel’s shoulder. “Don’t think about that.”

“But what if-”

“It didn’t happen that way, Cas. That didn’t happen, alright? Don’t worry about things that didn’t happen because it’ll stress you out. You hear me?” He searches Cas’ face for understanding and thankfully Cas gives a small nod.

“Y- you’re right. You’re right.” He takes in another deep breath. Dean gives him a few moments to catch his breath. It must be hard to breathe with damaged ribs. Dean can’t imagine what Cas is feeling right now.

“Is he here?” Cas looks at him again, referring to Jimmy.

Dean nods. “Yeah he’s with Sam and my mom in the waiting area.”

“Okay.” Cas says, voice quieter than before. He seems a little off – just in the last few moments, he seems to have changed. The semi-relaxed sense Dean got of him seems to have gone.

“Cas are you alright?” He questions, feeling Cas’ fingers tighten around his hand again.

“Dean, can-” Cas’ sentence ends up being broken, rising in urgency as it goes along “can you” he breathes in shallow, short breaths “please get the” he scrunches his eyes “get the nurse.”

Dean jumps into action and reaches to press the nurse call button even though he doesn’t know what’s going on.

Cas seems incapable of words now, and Dean feels a rush of panic. What’s going on?

A nurse quickly rushes through the door, taking in whatever situation Cas is in and seeming to know what to do.

“There’s a pillow behind you, can you grab it quickly.” She says to him, so Dean turns around and indeed sees a pillow tucked into one of the shelves in Cas’ bedside cupboard thing. He pulls it out and stands up. She grabs a metal pan thing from the end of the bed and suddenly Dean clues in as to what is going on.

“Would you mind holding the pillow against his chest. Not too hard, but fairly firmly.” The nurse instructs him, so he pushes the pillow against Cas’ front, having to circle both arms around him to keep it there.

The nurse holds the bowl under Cas’ chin just as he’s sick, a rush of liquid leaving his mouth.

Dean notes the tears that start welling in Cas’ eyes. It must hurt so much.

He rubs Cas’ back, up and down while holding the pillow against his chest. It must help his ribs stay in place or something. Really, Dean has no idea, but if he had to guess, the pillow would be for that reason.

Cas seems to have to choke in air between retches because he can’t seem to stop bringing up the liquidy stuff. Dean hates that all he can do is rub his back and tell him it’ll be over soon.

Luckily this doesn’t seem to go on for much longer, and the time between each retch widens until Cas feels he’s done. He goes pretty limp afterwards, putting a lot of weight on Dean’s arm which is still on his back.

The nurse moves the bowl away. “Is there anything else wrong after that, Castiel?” She questions.

He manages to shake his head, speaking so quietly that both Dean and the nurse have to strain to hear him “nothing…is…worse.” He has to gasp for air between words.

“Okay.” The nurse helps Cas wash his mouth out then offers him a mint to suck on. “Someone will come back to check on you in a while, okay?”

Cas just nods again and lets Dean guide him back down onto the pillows.

Cas goes quite comatose after all of that. It’s only for a few minutes while he regains the little strength he has, but Dean strokes his hair comfortingly over and over under he comes to again.

“Sorry.” He whispers, looking at Dean tiredly. “I didn’t think it would happen again. It hasn’t happened since early this morning.”

“It’s okay.” He continues stroking Cas’ hair. “As long as it doesn’t make your rib thing worse.”

Cas nods, blinking slowly, most likely calmed by Dean’s hair stroking. “One is broken, three are bruised.” He fills Dean in.

Dean nods, looking down at Cas’ chest as if he can see Cas’ ribs through the hospital gown.

“You can look if you want.” He says. “Just keep the bed cover over my waist because I’m naked under this stupid dress thing. I don’t want anyone coming in and getting a shock.”

Dean smiles. “It’s one of those ones with the ass gap, right?”

Cas nods. “Humiliation at its finest. But there are tubes stuck in me in all directions so I guess I have to wear it for minimal obstruction in such areas.”

“Oh man.” Dean dips his head in amusement “even though you’re in so much pain you still manage to be funny.”

Cas smiles at that. Dean stands up and presses his lips against Cas’ gently, letting the kiss linger for a good few long moments before pulling away.

He reaches below the bed cover and slowly rucks up Castiel’s gown, making sure the cover doesn’t slip lower than his hipbones. He moves it up the last few inches past Cas’ ribs, seeing the purple bruising on a lot of his ribs on the right. “Jesus, Cas.”

“Thankfully I’m on painkillers so they could feel a lot worse.”

Dean holds his hand up “can I?”

“Yeah, just…just be gentle. It’s all really sore.”

Dean nods in understanding, slowly letting his fingers ghost over the bruising. Only two thoughts run through his head. The first being admiration in how well Cas is coping with this. The second is the fact that Dean still thinks he’s beautiful, despite all the bruises. It makes him feel more in love with Cas, knowing he will be always be by Cas’ side through difficult times like these.

He lowers the gown, pushing it down under the edge of the cover back to where it was.

Dean moves his hand to cup Cas’ cheek, running his thumb along the bone slowly. “You’re still beautiful, y’know.”

Cas’ eyes move down when a blush reddens his cheeks. “Even with the bruises?”

“Even with the bruises.”

Cas smiles at him, affection in his eyes. His eyes actually seem a little brighter than when Dean first got here. Maybe being sick has helped him feel a little better.

Dean moves his hand back, brushing the hair from Cas’ forehead all the way to the back of his neck. It brings a wider smile from Cas.

“Where did you hit your head?”

Cas slowly lifts his arm, lifting some hair from the left of his forehead to reveal a lump. “Here. It’s quite tender.”

Dean hadn’t even noticed it before. “You really must have a hard head, Cas.” He laughs quietly, slowly and gently running his fingers over the bump. “Because you definitely dented the bannister.”

“Seriously?” Cas actually laughs a little at that. “That thing is basically solid wood.”

“Exactly. Your head must be solid wood too. Where do you keep your brain?” He smirks.

Cas gives a small roll of his eyes and manages to swat Dean with his hand. “Shut up.”

Dean smiles and leans to kiss him again.

“So, overall, how are you feeling?” He questions. He’s actually surprised they’ve managed to keep their voices down low the whole time.

“Ribs are sore, got a headache, hate the feeling of having tubes stuck in everywhere but overall not too bad I guess. I don’t feel sick anymore. But I’m quite tired though.”

“You’re going to recover completely then?”

“Yeah, that’s the plan.” He smiles jokily.

Dean shakes his head and rolls his eyes fondly.

“The doctor who did the scans apparently said I’ll make a full recovery.”

Dean feels everywhere in his body relax. “That’s great. I’m honestly so glad you’re okay.”

“Me too.” Cas sighs. “Um…I know we got people waiting but…I just want to know what happened when I was out cold. If you know, that is.”

“It’s okay, Cas. They don’t mind waiting. So, you want to know about everything after you fell?”

He nods.

“Well, I got a call from the emergency services saying Jimmy was on the phone to them, saying you weren’t waking up. He told them to call me so I ended up driving to your house and getting there just before the ambulance.”

“He…he called 911?”

“I assume so.”

Cas’ smile is small but proud. “Oh god I’m so proud of him. He hates that phone usually.”

“Yeah. He was actually still on the phone to one of the people when I got there, but he dropped it when I came in and ran over to me, just…literally just beside himself crying and crying. He was scared to death.”

Cas frowns and sighs guiltily. Dean takes his hand.

“It’s not your fault, Cas. It’s not.” Dean doesn’t give him chance to protest before he continues the story. “So yeah, then I picked him up and went to find you. You were at the bottom of the stairs knocked out and your shirt was half way up your chest so I could some bruises starting to form on your ribs.

“That’s when the emergency services got there and they were really nice. The man gave you an oxygen mask but you didn’t have it on long really.”

“Why?”

“You took it off yourself. They had to sit you up because you were, like, jerking and then you were sick into a bag.”

Cas sighs. “I don’t even remember that.”

“I didn’t think you would.” He says. “They put you on a stretcher and took you away in the ambulance with the sirens and the lights and the whole shebang. I would have gone with you, but I had Jimmy and he was still crying and it didn’t feel right to make him sit around in a hospital.”

“No, it’s okay, I understand.” Cas nodded.

“So yeah, after that I went and sat on the couch with him to try and calm him down. He’d had a bit of an accident at some point while I’d been holding him so the both of us were in damp clothes, but honestly, I didn’t care. I just wanted the both of you to be okay.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologising. Please.” Dean says softly. “I was just happy I was able to help.”  

“Yeah. Okay, sorry.” Cas realises that he said sorry again. “I was saying sorry for saying sorry…uh…fuck…uh…sorry?”

Dean snorts. “You’re an actual dickhead, you know that right?”

Cas shrugs, smiling.

“But I love you with all I’ve got, Novak.” He whispers, moving close to Cas to give him another kiss.

“Suck up.” Cas swats him again. “But…yeah, I love you too.”

At this, Dean smiles yet again and continues with the story. “So, after I’d managed to calm him down a bit, I gave him a bath and he played with those yellow duck things for a while. We watched movies for the rest of the day, really. I’ve gotta tell you though, I’m pretty sure I was going to go insane by the end of Toy Story 3.” He laughed. “But yeah, it got us through the evening and he came and slept in our bed with me. I managed to get him really sleepy with a bottle of warm milk and he ended up sleeping fine, actually. Better that I thought he would; I thought maybe he’d wake up in the middle of the night and get upset or something, but he didn’t. He was cuddling your Harvard hoodie the whole time he was asleep.”

Cas’ lips pull into a smile. “I usually wear it after having a shower. It must smell like my aftershave or something.”

“Yeah, something like that. But um…yeah, that’s all that happened really.”

Cas nods, taking it all in. “Is he here?”

“Yeah, he’s probably still playing with Sam. Shall I go get him?”

Cas nods. “Yeah. Please.”

Dean stands up to leave but Cas grabs his sleeve. “Wait.”

“Yeah?”

Cas holds his arms open for a hug so Dean happily leans down and wraps his arms around Cas’ shoulders, burying his head against Cas’ warm neck. “I’m so happy to see you.”

“Me too, Cas.” He squeezes Cas’ shoulders, pressing small kisses to his neck. He moves around to Cas’ mouth and they kiss for a while until they need to breathe.

Dean moves up and presses a light kiss to Cas’ forehead before moving away. “I guess I better go get the monster.”

Cas laughs before Dean leaves the room, going back towards the waiting room.

 

* * *

 

Everyone looks at him when he appears, including Jimmy who is looking at him hopefully.

“You wanna come see daddy?” He smiles, holding his arms open. Jimmy drops the toy train he was playing with straight away and dashes over to Dean, letting Dean lift him up into his arms.

“How is he, Dean?” Mom asks and Sam nods.

“He’s been up for a lot of the night. Some medication they gave him has been making him sick but it seems to be wearing off now. He’s got bruises on his ribs and a lump at the side of his head but apparently they think he’s going to make a full recovery so it’s all going to be okay.”

Mom and Sam seem to relax in relief like he did when Cas told him.

He turns to Jimmy. “You hear that? Daddy’s going to be okay.”

Jimmy smiles and reaches to Sam who hands him his pacifier. He puts it into his mouth and sucks on it, resting his head on Dean’s shoulder.

“Come on, bud. Let’s go.” He nods to mom and Sam before walking back down the corridor. “Jimmy?”

“Yweah?” He speaks through the pacifier.

“You know how daddy hit his head? Well, if he hears loud sounds it hurts so we have to be really quiet. And daddy’s hurt his chest too so we can only be next to him, yeah?”

“I cwan do thcat.” His words are changed by the pacifier again. It’s actually really cute.

“Good job buddy.” He rubs the boy’s back once before reaching the room and slowly pushing the door open.

Jimmy squirms in his arms as soon as he sees his dad, so Dean puts him down on the bed next to Cas.

“Hi sweetheart.” The boy moves straight into Cas’ arms, kneeling beside Cas on the bed.

Dean sits down in the chair he was in before, seeing that Jimmy has let go of the Harvard hoodie that was gripped tight in his little fists. He had no idea the kid had brought it. But now it’s as if the hoodie’s been forgotten, as Jimmy is now clutching at the edge of Castiel’s gown and the bedsheets tightly instead.

Dean sees that Jimmy’s eyes are flooded with tears and some are already streaming down his face. He shares a look with Cas who holds on to Jimmy tighter, whispering comforting things.

“It’s all okay now. It’s okay. Sshh, sshh, that’s it. It’s alright baby.”

Jimmy cries silently for a good few minutes, the only noises coming from him are little sniffles and hiccups. Cas seems to calm him down well though, continuing to speak to his son softly until he stops crying.

Cas picks Jimmy’s pacifier up and eases it back into the boy’s mouth, wiping the tears off his cheeks. This is when he spots the hoodie that Jimmy let go of in favour of holding on to Cas instead.

“Still got my hoodie, hmm?”

Jimmy nods. “Scmells like you.”

Cas smiles and brings him back into the hug, running his hand up and down the little boy’s back.

He looks over at Dean again and smiles sadly. Dean sets on stroking Jimmy’s hair, and soon the boy is calm and settled.

“I heard how brave you were. Did you call nine-one-one all by yourself?” Cas questions.

Jimmy looks at him and removes the pacifier from his mouth. “Yes…just like you told me, daddy.”

“You have no idea how proud I am of you. You’ve been so brave. Those people and Dean wouldn’t have been there to help me if it wasn’t for you, so you should be very proud of yourself.”

“Yeah, well done buddy. Not everyone your age could do what you did.” Dean adds and Jimmy goes shy under all of the praise.

“Are you coming home?” Jimmy asks Cas quietly, managing to fiddle with Cas’ hospital wristband since Castiel’s arm is wrapped all the way around the boy’s waist.

“The doctors are going to let me out tomorrow. I’ll be home tomorrow, yeah?”

“Tomorrow?” Jimmy whines.

“The doctors just want to make sure I’m okay.” Cas reasons, trying not to get Jimmy upset again just after they calmed him down.

“…but I want you to come home…” Jimmy mumbles, his bottom lip wobbling.

“Hey, it’s okay. It’ll go really fast, I promise. Really, really fast. And then before you know it, I’ll be back at home again.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

Satisfied, Jimmy nods and goes back to resting his head on Cas’ shoulder.

Cas and Dean make comfortable small talk for a while, along with a plan for tomorrow. They discuss leaving Jimmy with Dean’s mom and Sam at their house while Dean picks Cas up and helps him get ready.

During the quiet talking, Jimmy falls asleep at some point, and is not woken when Sam pokes his head through the door followed my mom.

“Hi, just thought we’d check in, see how you are.” Sam says quietly and smiles, walking across the room.

Cas smiles back at them both. “Recovering thankfully.”

“That’s good to hear. Is he asleep?” Mom points at Jimmy.

“Yeah. Tired himself out I think.” Cas replies. “Thanks for staying with him. Really, thank you.”

“Aw it’s no problem. He’s a sweetie.” Mom shakes her head. “We’ll reschedule Dean’s party no problem. As long as you’re okay.”

“I’d say I’m sorry about that, but Dean will tell me off.”

“I told him to stop apologising.” Dean clarifies.

“We’re just glad you’re okay, Cas. That’s all that matters right now.” Sam says honestly.

“Thank you, Sam. All of you, in fact.” Cas manages to say before covering his mouth when he yawns.

“You probably need some rest now, hmm?” Dean leans forwards in the seat, placing his hand on Cas’ leg on top of the covers.

“I’ve gone quite tired. Maybe talking too much.” He nods, covering his mouth when another yawn overcomes him.

“We’ll give you two a minute. See you back at the waiting room, Dean.” Sam says. “We’re glad you’re okay Cas.”

“Thanks.”

Dean’s mom points at Cas. “Feel free to boss Dean around. Make sure you get your money’s worth.”

Cas laughs and Dean rolls his eyes. “Thanks mom.”

“Bye you two.” She smiles before leading Sam out of the room.

“You _can_ boss me around if you want.” Dean tips his head to the side, smirking.

“If you like being bossed around, why do I always end up being on the bottom?” Cas smirks back, raising his eyebrows.

“Maybe we should switch it up a bit…” Dean leans close to Cas’ face “try something new.”

“I like that idea. When I’m better though.”

“Obviously.” Dean laughs, pulling away. “We’re lucky he’s still asleep.” He gestures to Jimmy.

“God yeah. Can you imagine having to explain.” Cas grimaces.

“Maybe in the future we should have those kinds of conversations in private. Or…in bed.”

Cas swats Dean playfully a third time today. Dean doesn’t mind.

“I have your phone by the way.” Dean pulls Cas’ phone from his pocket and puts it on the table next to the bed. Text me or call me tomorrow. Let me know when they’re letting you out.”

“Will do.”

“I guess I should let you rest now.” Dean decides.

“Yeah, I’d say you can stay a little longer but I’m exhausted. Talking’s hard.” Cas gives a small smile. “You should probably get him home too.” He looks down at Jimmy.

Dean stands and reaches down to lift Jimmy up, careful not to wake him.

“I think he needs a change too.” Cas adds.

“Okay, I’m on it. Should we wake him so he can say bye?”

Cas thinks for a second, his eyelids heavy in his clear tiredness. “I feel bad, but I don’t think we should. I know he said he’d be okay with seeing me tomorrow, but if he has to say bye he’ll cry. I know he will. And then he won’t want to leave. It’s easier just to take him.”

“Yeah, okay. Here.” He leans down with Jimmy in his arms so Cas can stroke Jimmy’s hair and kiss his forehead.

“Tell him I’ll see him tomorrow? And know knows, I might end up calling you guys later anyway to talk about tomorrow and I can speak to him then.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Dean smiles, leaning down a little further so he can peck Cas on the lips. “Speak later then?”

“Yeah. Speak later. I love you.”

“Love you too.” He gives Cas another peck before pulling away. “Do you need anything before I go?”

Cas shakes his head. “I’m okay I think.” He smiles.

Dean gestures to Jimmy. “I’ll look after him. He might still cry, but he’ll be okay.”

Cas nods. “I’m sure.”

“Bye Cas.” Dean smiles gently and Cas returns it before he leaves the room.

Dean feels _infinitely_ better. Cas is okay.

 

* * *

 

**4:23pm**

“Here, let me.” Dean walks over to Cas to help him let go of the metal support bar in the big bathroom attached to Cas’ hospital room. He’s helping Cas get dressed because, as promised, he’s coming home today.

Dean secures an arm around his waist, stopping him from crumpling from the pain from his ribs.

“Thanks.” Cas holds onto him tightly with one hand and manages to pull his sweatpants up with the other.

“Is that it? I think it is, right?”

“Yeah.” Cas looks around, double checking. “Yeah it’s everything.”   

“Cool, let’s get out of here.” Dean starts steering Cas towards the door.

“Wait, I need the toilet before we go.”

Dean snorts. “Can you even stand on your own for that long?”

“I didn’t think about that really. I guess I’ll just sit down.”

“Nah Cas, it’ll hurt you to sit down when you don’t need to. I’d rather just help you.” Dean reasons. “C’mon I’ll help you. Besides, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.” He says with a smirk.

Cas blushes and rolls his eyes. “Fine, but there are nurses changing the bed outside. Be quiet before I ‘accidentally’ pee on you.”

“Go for it, sunshine.” Dean laughs at that and steers Cas over to the toilet instead of the door.

Cas rolls his eyes. Again.

When Cas is finished and has washed his hands, they leave the bathroom; Dean with his arm circled across Cas’ back and a gym bag slung over the shoulder on his other side. It’s what had all of the clothes he brought for Cas, plus a bottle of water.

There is a wheelchair waiting for Cas when they reach the door of the room. Dean lowers him into it carefully and soon Cas is seated comfortably, ready to be discharged.

Dean wheels him to the nurses’ station, smiling at the lady behind the desk. “Hi, Castiel is ready to leave.”

The lady stands up and hands Dean some papers and leaflets, presumably ones that are all about concussions and/or rib injuries. They’ll read them together later.

“Thanks.”

“I recommend drinking plenty of fluids and make sure you get lots of rest, Castiel. Don’t do any heavy lifting or anything that puts strain on you. I’d also personally recommend bringing a pair of sunglasses around with you. You won’t need them today because of the state of the weather, but you’ll be thankful for them on a sunny day. It’ll save you from a bad headache.”

Cas smiles. “Thank you for your help. I really appreciate everything everyone’s done for me.”

“Our pleasure. I wish you well. It was lovely to meet you.” She smiles.

“Thanks.” Dean smiles back and wheels Cas away.

“I liked her. She always came to check up on me.”

“She seemed nice, yah.”

Dean reaches the elevator and presses the button for the ground floor.

“I don’t know how people manage to be in the hospital profession thing. Y’know like paramedics and doctors and the people who work in the ER. Credit to them. I wouldn’t have the stomach to do what they do.”

“Nah, me neither. I saw a guy break his arm when I was ten. It totally freaked me out.” Dean chuckles. “Maybe that’s why I ended up in a boring ass office job.”

“If you think about it, if the broken arm _didn’t_ freak you out, you might have been a doctor and never have met me. Imagine that.”

“I don’t think I want to. I’m glad I met you.”

“Same.”

“You’re glad you met yourself? How selfish.” Dean jokes. Cas huffs anyway.

“I meant _you_.”

“Oh, sorry.” Dean laughs at himself for simply winding Cas up.

“Ugh why am I in love with you.”

“Because you are.” Dean smiles and places a hand on Cas’ shoulder, leaning down the side of him to kiss his cheek. Cas turns his head to make it a proper kiss. They only break apart when the doors open.

They make a quick trip to the pharmacy situated inside the hospital to pick up some painkillers that will agree with Cas before finally reaching the doors.

It’s been raining all morning but it seems to be letting up for now.

“How was Jimmy yesterday by the way? I know I spoke to him on the phone but I don’t know how he was when he woke up.” Cas asks as Dean pushes the wheelchair across the parking lot.

“He actually woke up at home. I was already holding on to him on the couch and he did get upset, but Sam and my mom stayed for food and he cheered up when we found out Sam bought a pie on the way to ours. I was happy too.”

“I bet you ate all the leftovers for seconds.” Cas decides, his voice certain.

Dean fake gasps. “How could you think that?”

“It’s _you_ , don’t forget. King of the pies.”

“I didn’t eat it all.”

“You _did_ eat it all, didn’t you.” Cas says, just as certain as before.

“Nope.”

“Yeah, you did.”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Knew it.”

Dean laughs. “Oops I guess.”

Cas laughs too.

They reach the Impala in good time before there’s more rain. Dean helps Cas into the passenger seat which already has a couple of pillows positioned at the backrest.

Dean helps Cas settle in before having to go back to the main entrance to return the wheelchair. It doesn’t take him long, but he ends up getting caught in a heavy rain shower on the way back to the car.

He’s just a tad soggy by the time he gets back.

Luckily, he packed a random towel for Cas earlier (one of the many random things he packed) so he uses it to dry the immediate wetness from his hair before throwing it in the back of the car.

“You good?” He asks Cas who nods, resting his head against the window.

“Awesome.” Dean starts the car and sets off home.

They sit in comfortable silence for most of the drive. Dean sees that Cas has gotten tired again and assumes he’s okay, but he sits upright all of a sudden, breathing in shallow breaths, panic rising.

“Dean, pull over, I’m going to be sick.”

“Wait, what?” Dean asks in surprise. Where did that come from?

Cas scrunches his eyes and presses the back of his hand against his mouth.

“ _Shit_.” Dean glances at his side mirror, checking there isn’t anyone on his right before pulling over in shoulder.

He stops the car and reaches into the back where he – _thank you Dean from the past_ – put a bucket on the off chance that Cas would actually need it. Turns out he does.

He grabs it along with a spare pillow and maneuvers Cas around so he has his back to Dean. He shoves the pillow around Cas and moves right behind him to make sure it is supporting his chest properly. Cas struggles against him (presumably to get out of the car) because he doesn’t know Dean has a bucket, but he soon finds out when Dean holds it around Cas, using it to press the pillow against him.

Cas manages to hold on just long enough before he’s sick into the bucket, holding on to Dean’s hand at the far edge of the bucket so tightly his knuckles go white.

“That’s it. It’s okay. You’re okay.”

Cas whimpers in between vomiting but Dean’s hand running up and down his back seems to be comforting him. “It’s okay, I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”

He comforts Cas through another few retches until he gets the last of it out with a few small coughs.

“There. There ya go. That it, babe?”

Cas nods, breathing heavily but it sounds labored. His head must be throbbing and his ribs must be hurting. God, he feels so sorry for him.

“Alright. Okay.” He gently moves the bucket away from Cas after giving him water to wash his mouth out.

Dean puts the bucket across next to the driver’s door. He’ll take care of it when Cas recovers a little. After a mere few minutes, Cas tries to move, saying “I’m okay” but Dean holds him in place.

“No, no, it’s okay. Rest for a while. As long as you need. We’re good here in shoulder, I don’t need to move the car.”

He feels Cas relax against him thankfully, and he sits there with his hand in his boyfriend’s hair for another ten minutes or so while Cas falls into a short sleepy daze.

When Cas is able to support himself against the backrest, Dean goes outside and takes care of the bucket, tipping out its contents up the edge of the road where the edge of the forest is for the big park, before tipping some water into it to wash it out enough until he can wash it properly at home.

He puts the bucket in the backseat and returns to Cas’ side.

“It’s…the nausea…I guess car sickness…is a thing…when you have nausea. Obviously.” Cas clarifies. “Sorry, that…was a bit sudden. Even _I_ wasn’t expecting it.”

“Don’t worry. It’s okay.” Dean rubs Cas’ shoulder. “You feeling okay enough for me to set off again? There’s only ten minutes.”

“Yeah.” Cas says, yawning. He hugs the pillow to his chest and clips his seatbelt in.

Dean nods and restarts the engine, making sure to drive extra smoothly for the rest of the way home.

 

* * *

 

“Daddy!” Jimmy runs over to Cas when they walk through the door, hugging his legs tight.

“Hey baby.” Cas chuckles, reaching down to place his hand on top of Jimmy’s head. Cas is thankfully feeling a lot better now. He said he should be okay after getting sick in the car. He said he feels lighter, but still has a headache.

Dean smiles, securing his arm around Cas a little tighter just to help take some weight off his middle.

“Hi guys.” Sam walks through the house beside mom, and Dean suddenly notices an amazing smell.

“What is that?” Dean says.

“Leek and potato soup. Nice to see you too.” Sam rolls his eyes at Dean.

“Sorry. It just smells really good.”

Mom comes over and takes the gym bag from him so he can help Cas get further into the house.

The doctors told him to walk around a little every couple of hours, but he still needs to rest because of his concussion. He’s a bit unsteady on his feet.

“Are you good to eat or do you need some time?” He asks Cas who shakes his head.

“Yeah I can eat. Soup sounds great right now.” Cas sighs as Dean guides him over to the table, easing him down slowly into a chair.

Dean takes the pillow from Castiel’s hands and slots it behind his back. Cas is able to relax after this.

Jimmy looks up at Cas with big eyes, standing next to the chair with his hands up resting on the seat.

“You want to come up?” Cas gives a soft smile when Jimmy nods.

Jimmy knows that Cas won’t be able to lift him for a while so he lets Dean lift him up, gently placing him on Castiel’s lap.

“Here.” Cas helps him turn around and slowly lets him rest against his chest. To be fair, Jimmy is really quite light, so leaning against Cas should be fine. “Just don’t press any harder, alright?”

“Okay.” Jimmy sounds happy to just be able to be close to Cas again. He takes Cas’ arm and hugs it tightly, not letting go even when Sam and mom dish out the soup.

Dean sits down next to Cas, licking his lips. This soup looks _really_ good. He’s pretty hungry too.

While they are all eating, light conversation is made but the general atmosphere is _so much_ better now Cas is with them and happy. It all feels like things are going back to normal even though there’s only been three days where there’s been upset and craziness. It feels like it’s been an age, but at least Cas is home and well. That’s what truly matters.

Dean is delighted with Cas’ reaction when he brings him the last piece of pie from yesterday. Dean _did_ save some for when Cas got home and he admits that he lied to Cas when he said he ate it all. “Couldn’t forget you, could I.”

“I’m astonished it lasted this long without you and Jimmy giving in and eating it.” Cas claims with an amused yet disbelieving tone.

Dean sends him a ‘ _well, I guess we didn’t eat it’_ look and he chuckles lightly.

 “Cheers to Cas being back home and recovering, and cheers to Dean moving in.” Sam smiles, holding his glass up. Everyone joins it with the toast; even Jimmy with his little penguin cup full of juice.

Cas kisses the top of Jimmy’s head then looks at Dean, endless affection filling his eyes. He reaches over and takes Dean’s hand, locking their fingers together. Dean smiles at him, mouthing _I love you_.

Cas leans over to press their lips together lightly. It only lasts a few seconds, but they find they are interrupted by Jimmy.

“Ewwww.” Jimmy scrunches his face.

“Be quiet, you.” Cas laughs, ruffling the boy’s hair before tapping his nose.

Jimmy smiles sheepishly and giggles.

 

* * *

 

That night, Dean, Cas and Jimmy all sleep in the big bed, tucked up in each other’s arms tightly. Now he’s fully moved in, Dean is part of the family. And honestly, he couldn’t be happier. Cas is okay, Jimmy is okay; his boys are okay. And that’s enough for him.

Dean falls asleep with a smile on his face.

**Author's Note:**

> So I considered splitting this into two chapters but decided against it since it kinda disrupted the flow?? Idk haha.
> 
> Anyway, this is the last stored-up fic thingy I have so if I post any more to this series, it'll take a little longer because I'll have to write it from scratch. I do have lots of ideas though! 
> 
> Sooo yah, hope you enjoyed :)


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